State Senators Hear New Proposal on Judges

State lawmakers heard a new plan Tuesday on how to elect judges, an issue which has split Republicans this year.

Republicans have pushed for more-direct elections of judges for several years. But they are divided on whether to use a nominating panel, similar to what the state has now, or just have the governor choose judicial nominees.

The latest proposal would continue the Judicial Selection Commission, but with a new name and different membership.

Senator Doug Overbey says the new amendment keeps the commission at its current size of 17 and ensures input by non-lawyers.

“…and provides that at least 12 would be duly licensed attorneys, which means that five of the 17 could be laypersons.”

The new measure would keep retention votes for judges. But if a judge is “rejected” by voters, the seat would become a wide-open contest at the next election.

Democrats have long argued that the current system, which doesn’t have contested races, keeps big-money campaigning out of judicial elections.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to make a decision on the bill Wednesday, May 13.

WEB EXTRA

The bill being amended is SB 2114 Norris/HB 2141 Lundberg.
http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB2114

Senator Jim Kyle of Memphis, a Democrat, isn’t ready to sign off on the new provisions just yet.

“I am troubled by certain of the policies that are being made on it, but do think we’ve made progress in that we are now discussing what kind of commissioner we’re going to have rather than whether we’re going to have one.”

A further change in the amended version is that the governor could reject all the recommended candidates and choose another person, as long as that person has at least been reviewed by the nominating committee.

The House version is in the House Budget Subcommittee Wednesday [May 13].

One controversial element that is still being negotiated is that the new commission would be “sunset,” shut down, after two years. And that is to make it easier to have a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2014 to make further changes in how judges are elected.

That proposed change is not part of the current bill and the wording hasn’t been agreed on yet. Many Republicans, including Senator Dewayne Bunch, urge direct, contested elections for all judges.

Bunch has a bill, SB 2168/HB 2018 Kelsey, that would allow the governor to make interim appointments without a nominating commission if the current commission expires and a new one isn’t up and running.

In the House, Republicans who favor direct elections called in an odd ally Tuesday– former Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Jay Hooker – to advocate for direct elections.

“You are the ones who decide. You have the sole power to decide whether or not to have these retention elections… or not to have them.”

Hooker, a frock-coated, shaggy-maned political icon, said judicial positions belong to the voters, not to the legislature.

Hooker was speaking against HB 1448 McCord/SB 1573 Woodson.

As amended, it is another continuation of the appointment-retention process. Its companion bill in the Senate is also up in Senate Judiciary on Wednesday.

House Republican Caucus Chair Glen Casada, R-Williamson County, voted for the bill in the House Finance Committee as a “vehicle” for discussion. But he made it clear he remains in favor of electing judges.

“When we stood up and took our oath, it wasn’t to do what the most streamlined thing is to do. It’s not to do what’s the most convenient, It’s not to do what’s the best thing or what our constituents want. We took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the State of Tennessee. And that takes precedence over everything.”

Bunch’s bill along with Norris’s and Overbey’s are all deferred to 3 p.m. Wednesday in Senate Judiciary Committee.

Norris’s amendment is an amalgam of his bill SB 2114 and this one by Overbey, which is still alive: SB 1715 Overbey/HB 1892 Coleman.

The first Senate amendment is the rewritten version of the bill. Read it here.

SB 2114 seems to the bill furthest along in the process.

Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey wants less power for any nominating commission and more for the governor. Ramsey is running for governor.